Thirty New Girl Scout Badges Now Available to Power Girl Leadership in
Key 21st Century Issues

09 Aug 2018

The all-girl organization has released new badges in
environmental advocacy, space science, robotics, and more.

Macedonia, Ohio– Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) and
Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) revealed 30 new badges now available
exclusively for girls ages 5–18 that enhance the one-of-a-kind Girl
Scout experience and address some of society’s most pressing needs,
such as cybersecurity, environmental advocacy, mechanical
engineering, robotics, computer science, and space exploration.
In a safe all-girl space, Girl Scouts develop important soft skills,
including confidence and perseverance, as well as hard skills, setting
them up for success and preparing them to take action for a better
world. The results are proven: girls who participate in Girl Scouts
are more than twice as likely to exhibit community problem-solving
skills than girls who don’t (57 percent versus 28 percent).

The unique Girl Scout environment provides fun, exciting, and
essential experiences that carry into girls’ future careers and life
success; the KPMG Women's Leadership Study of more than 3,000
professional and college women shows that early exposure to leadership
has a significant impact on a woman’s perceptions of her ability to
lead. Additionally, 76 percent of women today wish they had learned
more about leadership and had more leadership opportunities while
growing up, demonstrating how imperative it is for girls and
volunteers to join Girl Scouts.

The new programming for girls in grades 6–12 includes:

Environmental Stewardship badges, GSUSA’s first-ever badge
series focused on environmental advocacy. Girls in grades 6–12
prepare for outdoor experiences and take action on environmental
issues. Girl Scouts have been advocating for the environment since
the organization’s founding 106 years ago, and these badges
specifically prepare girls to be environmental advocates who address
problems, find solutions, and protect the natural world (funded by
the Elliott Wildlife Values Project).

Badges that teach girls how to program, design, and showcase
robots.

The College Knowledge badge for Girl Scouts in grades 11 and
12, the first badge completely dedicated to college exploration. By
showing girls how to research the admissions process, financial aid,
and other factors, the badge fills a specific need that girls asked
for—and that many do not have support for outside Girl Scouts.

Two Girl Scout Leadership Journeys: Think Like a
Programmer (funded by Raytheon) provides a strong foundation in
computational thinking and the framework for Girl Scouts’ first ever
national Cyber Challenge, coming in 2019. The Think Like an
Engineer Journey lets girls complete hands-on activities and use
their newly honed skills to take action on a problem in their
community. The programming aims to prepare girls to pursue careers
in fields such as cybersecurity, computer science, and
robotics.

Girls in grades K–5 can now earn badges in:

Environmental Stewardship, through which girls learn how to
respect the outdoors and take action to protect the natural world
(funded by the Elliott Wildlife Values Project).

Cybersecurity, introducing girls to age-appropriate online
safety and privacy principles, information on how the internet
works, and how to spot and investigate cybercrime (funded by Palo
Alto Networks).

Space Science, enabling girls to channel their inner NASA
scientist as they learn about objects in space and how astronomers
conduct investigations (funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
and led by the SETI Institute).

Mechanical Engineering for Girl Scout Juniors, through which
girls in grades 4 and 5 design paddle boats, cranes, and
balloon-powered cars, learning about buoyancy, potential and kinetic
energy, machines, and jet propulsion. Following last year’s
introduction of Mechanical Engineering badges for girls in grades
K–3, the addition of these badges for Girl Scout Juniors means that
all Girl Scouts in elementary school can now have hands-on
engineering experiences.

“Across the country, people are having powerful conversations about
the increasingly strong voice of young people who want to change the
world and the lack of women in leadership positions in the United
States—two topics Girl Scouts is uniquely positioned to address,” said
GSUSA CEO Sylvia Acevedo. “Whether they are fighting cybercrime,
exploring how engineers solve problems, or advocating for issues
affecting their community, Girl Scouts are learning how to proactively
address some of the foremost challenges of today while also building
skills that will set them up for a lifetime of leadership. I am so
proud that our new programming continues to push girls to be
forward-thinking and equips them with the skills they need to make the
world a better place. We believe in the power of all girls, and we
invite them to strengthen their unique abilities by joining Girl Scouts.”

GSUSA works with top organizations that interest today’s girls.
Combined with Girl Scouts’ expertise in girl leadership, these
organizations and specialists advise and inform on content to provide
the most cutting-edge programming available to girls. Content
collaborators include Code.org, the Cyber Innovation Center, robotics
educator and author Kathy Ceceri, the Leave No Trace Center for
Outdoor Ethics, the Museum of Science, Boston, and WGBH’s Design Squad
Global. Girl Scouts themselves also rigorously tested some of the new
offerings, including the Think Like a Programmer activity and the
Space Science and Cybersecurity badges, which were announced last year
and are now available for girls around the country to earn.

“Reaching for the Stars: NASA Science for Girl Scouts” is based upon
work supported by NASA Science under cooperative agreement No.
NNX16AB90A. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Girl Scouts of North East Ohio connects girls to a world of
possibilities in a positive and inclusive, girl-led environment. Girls
are inspired to discover their passions and empowered to reach their
full potential through a proven leadership development program. GSNEO
serves 25,000 girls and 11,000 adult volunteer members throughout an
18-county region including Medina, Portage, and Summit counties;
Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Lake counties; Carroll, Stark and Tuscarawas
counties; Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties; Erie,
Huron, Lorain, Sandusky and Seneca counties.

We’re the Girl Scouts of the USA

We’re 2.6 million strong – 1.8 million girls and 800,000 adults who
believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator,
Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world. Our extraordinary journey
began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette
Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, she
organized the very first Girl Scout troop, and every year since, we’ve
honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence,
and character, who make the world a better place. We’re the preeminent
leadership development organization for girls. And with programs from
coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a
chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.
To volunteer, reconnect donate, or join, visit www.girlscouts.org.